The Performance of Alkaline AA Batteries with the Aviator's Night Vision Imaging System - Before and After Activation of the Low Battery Indicator.

Abstract : The dual battery pack with the aviator's night vision imaging system (ANVIS) has a low battery indicator to alert the user to switch batteries at approximately 2.4 volts before the ANVIS performance is affected. With the original lithium batteries, the usable time after activation of the low battery indicator is approximately 30 minutes. Aviation units are now predominately using a pair of the AA alkaline batteries with ANVIS. This report investigated the usable time available with ANVIS after activation of the low battery indicator for alkaline AA batteries. Laboratory results showed that the ANVIS usable time for the alkaline batteries was typically more than five hours after the low battery indicator had been activated. Additionally, we found significant differences in the battery voltages at different airfields for supposedly new batteries, indicating that pilots are either mixing up the new and used batteries during flight, or the batteries are being short-circuited during storage.